Australian seamer Kane Richardson, who has been impressive with the new ball for Rajasthan Royals in the seventh edition of the IPL, talks about his stint with RR, working under Rahul Dravid, and more in a freewheeling chat with indianexpress.com.

Q: Anything particular you worked on for the IPL? Keeping in mind the slow and low nature of the pitches.

UAE was quite good for a bowler like me because the conditions were similar to Australia. The pitch in Abu Dhabi suited my kind of bowling. Now the test in India will be to adapt to the slow wickets and especially bowling at the death and not being predictable. That’s the challenge I guess.

Q: Does the RR set up allow you to express yourself?

It does. I have been involved with Pune last year and, you know, the caliber of the coaches was quite good, in the way they were during their playing days. The difference here at Rajasthan is the way the coaches are so laid back and they just let you go about your business and express yourself. There is no rule or punishment. If you don’t play well, you don’t kind of get dropped. They tend to stick and as a player that makes it quite easier.

Q: This is your first opportunity to work with the likes of Rahul Dravid. How has been the experience?

You never hear a bad word about Rahul Dravid. To come over here and finally meet him and just talk cricket. I love talking about how it was back during his days. The other night we were talking about how many international wickets he took. He remembered them all. He was a world class player, but the way he goes about his mentoring now is another reason why this team is having success.

Shane Watson is along the same lines as Paddy Upton and Rahul Dravid. They kind of back you and back your strengths. If it doesn’t quite work out, they will still support you. The communication with Shane is really good. He’s new to the job but I think he has adapted very quickly and it shows in the results.

Q: IPL gives you the opportunity to bowl at the best in the business. Do you feel that the experience here will help you perform better back home?

I think that’s all part of playing this competition and any competition is trying to get better as a cricketer. When you are coming up against some world class players, even the one in our team, and bowling to them, training with them, you can only benefit from it.

Q: Are you banking on a good IPL performance to make your way to the Australian team? Many Australians have returned to Australian colours after a good IPL show. How important is this tournament for your career?

A lot of players have different goals when they come over here and some like to perform to get back in the Australian team, and that’s definitely a goal of mine. I have only played one one-day international. So I think if you perform well here and get back home, you are going to get a little bit of reputation. It’s almost like an international tournament in domestic colours. Any one who performs well tends to go on to play for their country.

Q: There’s a lot of variety in your attack. Anything you are learning from the likes of Rajat Bhatia and Stuart Binny, who are very effective in these conditions?

You don’t really have to talk to Rajat to learn from him, I think it’s just the way he bowls in the middle overs….His kind of bowling is not seen much in Australia. It’s just not those two (Bhatia and Binny). Every single bowler in the team – Tim Southee, Pravin Tambe. I have talked to Tambe and that’s one of the strengths here that everyone shares knowledge.

Q: Any batsman you would hate to bowl in this tournament? What about Glen Maxwell?

Bowling to AB de Villiers is going to be tough. There’s Chris Gayle, Glenn Maxwell, we already bowled to him and he smacked us. I mean there are so many in every team. It will be hard to name a few. That’s the challenge.

Q: Where do you want to see yourself at the end of this tournament?

It will be nice to lift the trophy. After last year at Pune, not winning many games, for me it will be good to see the team’s success at the end. And as I said, If I can perform and make my way back into the Australian side, that will be nice.